Matt W Cook

It’s a nasty struggle sometimes. Sometimes we find ourselves doing things that just seem so futile, so pointless. But often there’s nothing we can do about it. We’re stuck doing the pointless futile things that won’t last long. We feel like quitting sometimes. But we don’t quit. We can’t. But it feels like we can’t continue either. So how do we continue? I think one encouragement is found in banking on a few thoughts.

1. If we love God and are called according to his purpose all things work together for our good. Even being stuck doing a pointless job with abrasive people works for our good. The worst situation you can imagine actually tends to your good if you are a child of God.
2. God is efficient. There is purpose in what I do, though I may never understand what that purpose is.
3. We can rest on a hope in a better future. Some of us have wonderful plans and dreams for our lives that may very well be fulfilled. Look to them. And even if you never achieve your dreams while breathing this air you can bank on the promise that one day you will stare at the glory of God in the face of Christ face to face. There we will gaze into the endless ages and be happy.
4. And remember the words of Habbakuk:

Why? Because his lovingkindess is better than life…and it lasts a lot longer, too.

And so the fog lifts and freedom has returned. I find myself back with blogger and able to enjoy the fruits here. I’m going to keep Chai with Matt as a place for me to post my pictures, poetry and other creative stuff, so don’t throw out your bookmarks!

I really hope this place stays open.

And so the fog lifts and freedom has returned. I find myself back with blogger and able to enjoy the fruits here. I’m going to keep Chai with Matt as a place for me to post my pictures, poetry and other creative stuff, so don’t throw out your bookmarks!

I really hope this place stays open.

Due to lack of interest, plot and anything remotely edifying I am declaring this blog officially closed.

There, go start a church or something.

ben

I think I’m back…

So it seems that our dear friends in the Pakistani government have
decided that Blogger is an evil entity and must be banned from the
sensitive minds of the citizens here. As a result of that I can no
longer post anything here. I think the days of this blog are
numbered.

But, slick dude that I am, I have a solution. It may be temporary and
it may be permanent. I’m in the process of moving my blog to
matthewcook.wordpress.com. Hopefully I’ll be able to import things
over. At the very least I’ll be able to continue blogging.

So check me out. WordPress works fine in Pakistan so I should be a
regular blogger again.

Cook

As you may have noticed, I finally caved and upgraded to the new Blogger design thingy. Next thing you know I’ll be prostituting the blog and using Ad-sense of something like that.

A little prayer request for you all. We got a call last night from Ruth’s father. Some of you may remember that a few years back he had some heart surgery. After you do that sort of thing the doctors wrap a nasty wire around your sternum to keep it from flying open at an akward time. The doctors recommed that you get it checked out sometime in the next few years. Ruth’s dad also is suffering from Luekemia. This forces him to go for monthly checkups to Karachi. This last time he decided to get his wire checked out, as he’s been feeling a bit of pain there recently. The doctor looked at it and said it had to be taken out immediately. As I type this Ruth is in Karahi and her father is probably in pre-op. It seems that the wire is coming loose, though I can’t be sure because communication breaks down pretty quick over here. So pray for him. It’s a nasty surgery that will take him out of commission for a while. Also pray about his financial situation. It’s costing 22,000Rs., which is more than my apartment costs for a month. This is especially difficult now, right after the holidays. Also Ruth and her little brother are going to be taking care of him while he’s recovering. They also have Jospeh, so their hands will be full. So pray.

The neatest thing to happen since sliced bread:
Braidwood Bible Chapel
God has used the words of many of these men to shape my life in a way that I would have never expected. I commend them to you for your joy and progress of faith.

Iron sharpens iron,
and one man sharpens another.

For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

God does odd things. I’ve often wondered why Paul wasn’t allowed to go to Spain like he wanted to. Why couldn’t he preach there? Or why did Moses have to die outside the Promised Land? He could have led Israel for a few more years and maybe things wouldn’t have gotten as bad as they did. What if this? What if that? Blah blah blah. The foolishness of God is wiser than men.

Or so we say.

Meanwhile we still delight in mixing a spoonful of Scripture with a cup of brains and willpower when we do ‘ministry’. We claim to be led by the Spirit but I think we’re often led by common-sense, statistics and heavy thinking. Thinking’s not bad. Common-sense is pretty good. But I’d rather have the foolishness of God any day. And I’m sure everyone would agree.

But we usually agree in words only. What happens when it gets down to crunch-time? Are we really radical enough to throw the best laid plans? I read something neat:

If you return, O Israel, declares the Lord,
To me you should return.
If you remove the detestable things from my presence,
And do not waver,
And if you swear, ‘As the Lord lives,’
In truth, in justice, and in righteousness,
Then the nations shall bless themselves in him,
And in him shall glory.

So what is best evangelization plan or program? How will Canada, America, Sindh or Saudi Arabia be effectively permeated with the Gospel? Not by tracts. Not by programs or videos or campaigns or healing crusades. Not by schools or hospitals of drop-in centers (even though these things may help a little). The key to the total evangelization of the world is in Lovers of Christ. This passage amazes me. You expect the last two lines to say something like ‘I will bless you and give you victory’ like most other prophecies. But God wants to point out something different here. You want people to taste the God you have tasted? Prove that he tastes good! We need lovers of Christ who don’t waver in truth, justice and righteousness. lovers of Christ who separate themselves and ‘swear’ by their hope in Christ, not counting on the crap the world counts on. That is where success lies. Not in out best-laid plans, but in the radical, not-so-wise, complete submission and rejoicing in the Christ of the universe. If we insist on using our brains first and adding a bit of Bible polish later we will experience the truth that God uses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. I would much rather be a fool with Chirst than a genius without.

Pray for radical obedience.

Do you like music? I sure do. Ever since I can remember I’ve always liked a catchy beat, and after a bit of higher education I began to appreciate music for its deeper qualities. Unfortunately I think I’m a little musically challenged. I’ve been playing guitar for almost ten years now and I’ve attained to the level of average. Be that as it may I think that music is one of the most wonderful things God had given us. Recently I became convinced that music is one of the characteristics of humans being made in the image of God. Did you know there only two groups of beings in the Bible that sing? Man and God. You won’t be able to find a verse that points to an angel singing, it’s only us and God. I love this verse:

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
Zephaniah 3:17

(On a mind-blowing side note, can you imagine what it must sound like to hear the almighty God sing?) Have you ever thought about what music really is? Let’s use a guitar for an example. You have six metal strings of specific thickness and you tighten them up to a specific tension. Then you place your fingers on certain spot, changing the relative length of the strings and you hit them, causing them to vibrate. The vibrations resound off the guitar and fly through the air eventually arriving at your eardrums. They move the eardrum around and cause…pleasure. Pleasure is to be had in specific mixtures of specific frequencies of vibrations flying through the air. Kinda odd, eh?

Or think about visual arts. A splash of this pigment and a splash of another, arraigned in a certain shape. Light bombards the canvas and only certain wavelengths are allowed to bounce off while the rest is absorbed. These modified waves of light fly through the air and hit your eyes, producing…pleasure.

I like words. I love to read a poem or listen to a song that has finely-crafted words. One of my greatest ambitions in life is to write a beautiful song and, although I’ve tried, I’ve never been able to do it. I think writing a song must be the most difficult thing in the world. Words give me much pleasure.

But isn’t it interesting how elusive it all is? I don’t love words simply if their content is good, it’s something about how a sentence or paragraph is crafted. Check this out:

Around midnight I was studying some ancient books. Eventually I became very tired and almost fell asleep when suddenly I heard knocking at the door. I assumed it was a visitor.

Now check this one out:

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
” ‘Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door;
Only this, and nothing more.”

Both passages have pretty much the exact same information. The only difference I can see is that my passage is mundane and Poe’s is beautiful. Why is it beautiful? Perhaps because of the careful meter. Perhaps because of the clever rhymes or word images. I really don’t know why, but reading this poem gives me pleasure.

I think pleasure through art is one of the ways that God shows himself to us. I am sure that creativity is a mark of the image of God. I know this because like every other mark is it a source of great joy and great sorrow. The greatest gifts given to us from God are also the most often perverted ones. I think that in the end of it all our creative faculties will be given a boost and I bet that we’ll use them in glory. Can you imagine the creative minds of all the redeemed pooling their resources together to create a masterpiece of praise, all the while God Himself singing and rejoicing over them? Handel would look like a pop star. Robbie Burns would look like a limerick writer. Michelangelo would become a doodler and Shayaman’s films would remind you of an SNL sketch.

We have all been given a little something creative in us, even if that creativity lies only in appreciation. I think God loves creativity. Why else would he command us to write new songs? Sing unto the Lord a new song.

So just an encouragement to all you creative folks out there. Keep being creative and make sure that your creativity points to the Source. Whether you paint, write, sing, dance, cook, exercise, act, direct, play, sew, build, design, photograph, program, or any of the countless creative outlets that I can’t think of. Do it well, and make sure it points to the Source of it all.

PS – Pictures are good. See the cute boy.